Today, we are one giant step closer to a clean, healthy Western North Carolina.

For the past three years, Asheville Beyond Coal has exposed the Clean Water Act violations, the coal ash pollution, and the air pollution at the Asheville coal plant.

Duke Energy’s announcement that the plant will retire in the coming years reflects not only a beneficial financial decision for the company, but also an incredible demonstration of grassroots power that held one of the nation’s most powerful companies accountable. Now, there will be a reprieve for the French Broad River from coal ash, and the region’s biggest source of air and climate pollution will be eliminated.

We applaud Duke’s decision to retire the Asheville plant. That decision makes good environmental and financial sense. But company leaders failed to hear what people wanted in its place.

Our community wants a bright future that supports clean energy. Instead, Duke gave us a gas plant that locks our community into burning fossil fuels for decades to come. While we will no longer get electricity by burning coal that comes from Appalachian communities being devastated by mountaintop removal coal mining, natural gas — though cleaner to burn — creates water pollution and emits the potent greenhouse gas methane when extracted.

We deserve electricity options that invest and create jobs here in our community.

The retirement of the Asheville plant is a step in the right direction, but it is a half measure, undermined by continuing reliance on an economically unpredictable and polluting source of power. With just a fraction of the money that Duke Energy will spend on upgrades in its western region, the company could run programs to make our homes and businesses more efficient, so that less energy is wasted and consumers save thousands on their electricity bills.

Duke could invest in putting solar panels on our schools; it could build a battery storage project that allows them to capture the electricity from renewable energy and use it even when the sun isn’t shining; it could develop better incentives for homeowners that install solar panels on our roofs.

In short, Duke could create a truly modern electricity plan for the communities of Western North Carolina — one that doesn’t just look at its economic bottom line, but that also considers long-term solutions — solutions that will keep our air and water clean and slow down climate change.

When we set out to secure retirement of the Asheville coal plant, no one thought it was possible. Yet this community has demonstrated that anything is possible.

With tireless, creative, and innovative campaigning, we sent a message loud and clear that our community wants to move beyond coal and on to clean energy. Duke heeded the first part of that call, but failed on the latter. So there’s still more work to be done for clean energy.

Ours is a community ripe for innovation and clean energy projects. We have set our sights high and, together, we will create the clean energy economy we deserve.

Kelly Martin is senior campaign representative for Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign. Julie Mayfield is co-director for MountainTrue and an Asheville City Council candidate.